Panettone 2 – The Yeasted Version

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Panettone, simili, sisters, sorelle, yeast

This is a version of my recipe for naturally leavened Panettone, adapted to use brewer’s yeast instead of a sourdough starter. Unlike that recipe, which requires several days in the making, this one can be made in a day. I would suggest you pick a day when you know you will be around to intervene at the various stages of the bake. I also suggest that you start early. It should only take about 8-10 hours from start to finish, but a numbers of factors could cause this to vary.

Panettone 1 – Naturally Leavened

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Panettone, Aroma Panettone, Sweet, King of the Sourdough, Peel, sorelle

Panettone is a wonderful thing, and any keen amateur baker is likely to want to try making it at some point. But before they dive in, they might like to consider the response of a famous baker, when he was asked to recommend a recipe for Panettone. “Leave it to the experts”, he said. I can understand where he was coming from; Panettone is neither quick nor easy to make and there is no guarantee that the end result will be superior to something you might buy.

All that is even more true when you make a naturally leavened version, using a sourdough starter. My first attempt at this took nearly 3 days from start to finish and ended up a little on the sour side. The second version took a little less time but was perfectly sweet – someone declared it was the best Panettone they had ever eaten… It also won the prize at Hobbs House Bakery’s King of the Sourdough competition. (See bottom of this post.)

So why make Panettone? Well, if, like me, you relish a baking challenge, you enjoy the processes of baking as much as the end results, and find it rewarding to know that you have produced something impressive and delicious, why not give it a go? All you have to lose is 60 hours or so of your life!

“Persian Bowl” Loaf

This loaf was inspired by the pattern on a pair of ancient Persian silver bowls, dating from about 500BC, which I saw on a recent visit to the British Museum. I haven’t been able to find a picture of them on line, so you will have to make do with my rather fuzzy picture, shown below, which does still convey the simple elegance of the design that so appealed to me. I’m sure the execution of the bowl was anything but simple, not least because the surface of each is divided into fourteen segments. I went for the much simpler option of having only twelve in my loaf.

Cottage Loaf

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autolyse, low hydratrion

I have fond memories of this classic British bread form from my childhood, but I don’t recall seeing it in bakeries recently. I was inspired to try my hand at it by a stunning photograph posted on Twitter by Karl Bowyer.

Although my version is not as spectacular, I take heart from the words of Elizabeth David (in English Bread and Yeast Cookery):

“Cottage loaves, as all professional bakers writing for their colleagues readily admit, are notoriously difficult to mould and bake…”

And her recipe doesn’t even include the slashes that seem to me to be so characteristic of this loaf – but do add to its difficulty. So if you want to omit those you are in good company!

Couronne Bordelaise

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Couronne, Oil, Shaping, sourdough, Technique, water, yeast

The Couronne Bordelaise is a beautiful bread form that has the appearance of having been artfully scored, whereas it is all actually done by shaping. This suits me perfectly as my scoring skills are still, to say the least, rudimentary.

Couronne means crown or wreath in French, and at its best this loaf has a spectacular crest of dough at its centre which really does look like a crown or diadem, surrounded by six or eight rounded buns.

However I have found this effect surprisingly difficult to achieve.

Delightful…! Preposterous…! Brioche Feuilletée

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Bertinet, brioche, Feuilletee, Hamelman, Hazelnut, Pistachio

When I first got my iPad, I became addicted for a while to a game called Cruel Jewels. It was very amusing the way a kind of posh butler would comment with increasing excitement on how well you were doing. A good move might earn a “Delightful!”, a better one a more enthusiastic “Splendid!”, but if you had done particularly well he would work himself up to an almost hysterical “Absurd! Preposterous!! INCONCEIVABLE!!!”

I fear that some people might view this Brioche Feuilletée recipe in the same light. For it takes a dough that is already very rich, packed as it is with eggs and butter, and adds yet more butter in the form of a croissant-style lamination. The dough is then wrapped around a rich nutty filling, and finally the loaf is glazed with apricot jam, drizzled with icing and sprinkled with more nuts.

Pudding Semolina Bread

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Bread, grano duro, Pudding, Semola rimacinata, semolina

Bread made with Semola di grano duro rimacinata (l) and pudding semolina (r)

Semolina is very confusing, as the same word is used to refer to a number of quite different things. In the UK it generally refers to a yellow, slightly grainy flour made from durum wheat, which is primarily used for making a simple but tasty milk pudding. It is not usually considered to be suitable for making bread, except when added as a small proportion of the total flour. But as you will see below, I have found that you can make beautiful bread using as much as 75% pudding semolina. It makes a lovely bread, with a primrose yellow crumb, a crunchy crust and a distinctive flavour.

Saffron Bread Revisited

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Apricot, Cardamom, Chelsea Buns, Knotted Rolls, Orange, quanti modi di fare e rifare, Saffron

 Nota per lettori italiani/e: troverete una versione italiana della ricetta qui.

I was delighted that Anna and Ornella, the lovely organisers of Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare decided to use my Three Kinds of Saffron Bread for their baking challenge this month.

Although I was only too happy to revisit the rich and colourful world of saffron bread, I did not want to repeat myself and so I decided on another two variations on the theme.

Pane allo Zafferano per Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare

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albicocche, arancia, cardamomo, panini, quanti modi di fare e rifare, zafferano

An English version of this post will be found here.

Mi ha fatto tanto piacere che Anna e Ornella, le carissime organizzatori di Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare abbiano deciso di utilizzare il mio post Three Kinds of Saffron Bread (Pane allo Zafferano) per la sfida di questo mese.

Non volevo ripetere la stessa ricetta, quindi ho deciso di fare ancora due variazioni sul tema.

Tsoureki – Greek Easter Bread

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Beautiful Bread, Easter, Great British Bake Off, Mahleb, Mastika, Panissimo, Paul Hollywood, Tsoureki, World Baking Day

Tsoureki is a traditional Greek Easter bread. It is very fragrant and flavoursome, with a texture almost like brioche, and has a distinctive aroma and taste, coming mostly from the characteristic Greek flavourings of mahleb and mastika. I must admit I’m not sure how traditional my version is, as there are a few added ingredients that I suspect are not very orthodox. I have also left out the 3 bright red hard boiled eggs with which it is often adorned to symbolise the Holy Trinity and the blood of Christ. But for all that, it is a beautiful thing, both in appearance and flavour.